Category: Official announcements Page 3 of 7

A message has appeared today from Kate on her official website – glorious summer indeed!

Kate has posted a Christmas message to all her fans on her official site. Happy Christmas to you and all your loved ones, Kate! xxx

In a Christmas message on her official site, Kate pays tribute to Ian Newton, her gifted monitor engineer who has very sadly passed away in the last week.

From Kate…

I want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas. Thank you for having made this year such a special one. Your incredible support and encouragement throughout the shows made them something really special that I will never forget.

It is so terribly sad that Ian Newton, our monitor engineer, died suddenly just a couple of days ago on 19th December. We are all so shocked by the news and send our deepest sympathies to his family. He was a complete sweetheart, a gentle man and an incredibly important part of the sound team right from the very beginning of the live project even before the first rehearsals. Then through to the tech rehearsals and on to the actual shows at Hammersmith.

It was Ian who encouraged me to use the in-ears system and oversaw the whole process using his huge experience in live work. He encouraged the whole band and Chorus to use in-ears so that all of us were using the same system for all the shows. Many people commented on the high quality of the sound and sound system at the venue and a great deal of this was because of Ian.

He was personally very supportive to me. There were quite a lot of things I was nervous about especially as I hadn’t sung or played live for such a long time. Ian loved his work and really cared about quality and detail, and spent a lot of time making sure that my monitors had exactly the right mix for every track, as he did with every member of the band and chorus.This meant that we could all work as confidently as possible with each other and in the context of the venue at Hammersmith. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. He wanted it to be the best it could possibly be.

We’re all going to really miss him. All of the team but especially the sound team, the band, the singers and of course me too. It’s hard to take in that he’s no longer with us. It’s a real loss for the live music industry. He was only 52. He was a lovely, warm, generous-spirited man with a lovely sense of humour. Thank you Ian for being such an invaluable part of the team, for being so dependable and for being there for me and helping me have the confidence to get up there and perform live. I’ll always remember you sitting there, behind the monitor desk with your lovely big warm smile.

With love and best wishes for the new year ahead, Kate x

Anyone who missed out on a chance to purchase merchandise at the Before the Dawn concerts, which ended earlier this month, can now pre-order all the prints, clothing, collectables and even the beautifully produced tour programme from Kate’s official online store here. Haven’t tried out your “little light” from the Rescue Kit yet? You’re in for a treat.

Kate has posted a note, entitled “After the Dawn” on her official site. So many people wanted to read what Kate had to say after her triumphant run of live shows, that her site momentarily crashed!

After the Dawn

Hi there,

Now all the shows are over, it’s pretty difficult to explain how I feel about it all. It was quite a surreal journey that kept its level of intensity right from the early stages to the end of the very last show. It was also such great fun.

It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. I loved the whole process. Particularly putting the band, the Chorus and the team together and watching it all evolve. It really was the ultimate combination of talent and artists, both from the music business and the theatre world. I never expected everyone in the team to be so lovely and we all grew very close. We became a family and I really miss them all terribly.

I was really delighted that the shows were received so positively and so warmly but the really unexpected part of it all was the audiences. Audiences that you could only ever dream of. One of the main reasons for wanting to perform live again was to have contact with that audience.They took my breath away. Every single night they were so behind us. You could feel their support from the minute we walked on stage. I just never imagined it would be possible to connect with an audience on such a powerful and intimate level; to feel such, well quite frankly, love. It was like this at every single show.

Thank you so very much to everyone who came to the shows and became part of that shared experience. It was a truly special and wonderful feeling for all of us.

Very best wishes,
Kate x

[photo credit: Ken McKay / katebush.com ]

Guardian … Telegraph … Independent … BBC … Billboard … Rolling Stone … NME … New York Times … Daily Express … Uncut …

In a message on her official site, which has been picked up by media worldwide, Kate has requested that fans refrain form using cameras, smartphones, tablets etc to record her show. She explains why:

Hallo,
Many thanks to everyone who sent such lovely wishes for my birthday. I had a wonderful day.
We’re all very excited about the upcoming shows and are working very hard in preparation. It’s going very well indeed.
I have a request for all of you who are coming to the shows :
We have purposefully chosen an intimate theatre setting rather than a large venue or stadium. It would mean a great deal to me if you would please refrain from taking photos or filming during the shows. I very much want to have contact with you as an audience, not with iphones, ipads or cameras. I know it’s a lot to ask but it would allow us to all share in the experience together.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Respectfully yours,
Kate.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to us! It would be a shame to be confronted with a sea of screens during such an intimate theatre experience.

UPDATE: Media reaction has been surprisingly HUGE worldwide, and, thankfully, mostly supporting Kate’s very respectful request. The Guardian argues that Kate is making “a valiant stand in the battle of transcendence v smartphones” here. More media reaction to Kate’s request:

Irish Independent | The Telegraph | The Guardian | Rolling Stone | BBC |

Kate has just posted her 2013 Christmas message on the official site:

“Wishing you a really wonderful Christmas. Thank you for your kind messages and continual positive presence throughout this year. It means a great deal to me.
                                 I hope 2014 is a great year for all of us.
                                          With love and best wishes,
                                                Kate x”

We wish Kate and her family, and all Kate fans, a very happy Christmas, and we look forward to all the good things, that 2014 may bring for us all.

Sean, Dave, Krys and Peter x

Liam Tamne lost in the Battle Round on last Saturday’s edition of the show. On her official site Kate posted:

“Liam, you mustn’t be disheartened. You really have a special talent and you’re a fantastic singer. You’ve already been heard and appreciated by a huge audience. Try not to be too disappointed. Just keep going. I’m sure that your nan would be very proud of you having achieved so much. Good luck with all your future projects.“

Liam responded on his facebook page: “I love this Lady so much. This is Fantastic. Thank You Kate Bush“.

Liam had covered This Woman’s Work in a previous round of the competition, a version Kate had found “absoloutely stunning“.

We rather liked the comment by Tom Hawking on Flavorwire: “Frankly, if will.i.am doesn’t like you and Kate Bush does, you’re probably doing something right, and Tamne will hopefully go on to have a successful and productive career. What it all boils down to is more proof that the most interesting thing about shows like American Idol, The X Factor, and The Voice is rarely the winners.”

Warm congratulations to Kate today! At a special investiture ceremony in Windsor Castle she received her CBE from the Queen.

Kate chose not to speak to the press after the ceremony but issued a short statement:

“I feel incredibly thrilled to receive this honour which I share with my family, friends and fellow musicians and everyone who has been such an important part of it all. Now I’ve got something really special to put on top of the Christmas tree.”

Kate has now added to the statement on her official site:

“The ‘everyone’ in the quote above of course includes all of you.  Thank you so very much for all your fantastic support and encouragement.  I feel extremely privileged to still have an audience.  It’s you that have made my work, which would otherwise have just been creative projects, into a success.
Many, many thanks to the best fans ever,
Kate  x

PS  I hate the term ‘fans’ but couldn’t think of how else to word it.”

We hope that you are enjoying your special day, Kate – richly deserved for the years of sheer talent, joy, inspiration and excitement you have poured into this world. Have a blast!

Peter, Krys, Dave and Seán x

|PA|Independent|Indendent.ie|BBC|BBC America|Huffington Post|Daily Express|Yorkshire Post|Daily Telegraph|Daily Mail|ITV|Bexley Times|Daily Mirror|The Sun|Metro|Scotsman|MSN|Royal Central|The Bronte Blog|UnicornBooty|LBC Steve Allen|Pack6| …. and virtually every local paper in the country from Littlehampton to Galloway took the PA feed …. and at last a truly sensible report in the media by Pamela Owen in the Daily Mirror.

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A dog made of snow, called Snowflake, wearing a Santa hat. Perfect! Kate sends her fans a Christmas message on her official site.

Thanks for all your lovely messages of encouragement over the year. It means such a lot. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. With love, Kate

On the official UK chart mid week update today RUTH 2012 was at NUMBER 4…

Of course this is only sales from Sunday and Monday, but well done to Kate, it’s well deserved and we love the new version.

On the official site Kate says:

“I am completely thrilled and touched by the overwhelming response from everyone to the remix of RUTH.  I thought the whole closing ceremony of the Olympics was extraordinary and I’d like to thank everyone there for choosing me to be a part of it.  It is such a huge honour”

And if you think the new version should be on the radio in the UK, we suggest you send an email or text to Chris Evans and Ken Bruce at BBC Radio 2 and just ask them to play it… 🙂

Contact Chris Evans HERE

Contact Ken Bruce HERE

[Graphic credit Antonis Glicos]

Running Up That Hill (2012 Remix) is now also available from iTunes USA

Update: Kate writes on her official site: 

Hi there,
I hope you all enjoyed the remix of  Running Up That Hill this evening at the Olympics Closing Ceremony. They certainly put on a brilliant show.                       
       Kate

Kate’s 2012 remix of Running Up That Hill with a brand new vocal was featured in a crucial section of the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games, after the entry of athletes, and whilst a pyramid was built in the centre of the Olympic Stadium from blocks representing each of the Olympic events, and prior to the presentation of the medals for the Marathon.

“As the insanity begins again, here come some white clad geezers playing tribal drums, and then some actor-model-dancer sorts in white body stockings come on and position cubes on the stage. 303 of them. In honour of the 303 events of the Games, as Huw Edwards tells us. Alright, smarty pants. A superb remix of the mighty Kate Bush: ‘Running Up The Hill’ plays.” Daily Telegraph live blog

“It’s Indian drummers. Sorry, but Stomp beat you to it, guys. Now they’re playing Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill. Does this mean she’s not actually playing it live? Do we even need Kate Bush when we have people assembling 31 giant white cubes? More importantly – will she jump out of one of these boxes?” Guardian live blog.

“Even Kate Bush made an appearance, albeit only over the speakers, which played out a remix of Running Up That Hill as performers pushed white boxes into a pyramid on to which highlights of the Olympics were projected.” Daily Telegraph review of the event.

“Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill makes the point that men and women cannot trade places. It was fitting at a Games where women have made up a greater percentage of the athletes than ever before, and been allowed to box. To gold medal-winning effect for Britain.” BBC review of the event.

See a clip of the closing ceremony HERE

The closing ceremony has been met with “mixed” reviews after the huge success of the opening. The entire spectacle was broadcast live on the BBC, but only segments were relayed on NBC in the US and it appears that NBC excised the segment featured Running Up That Hill. This certainly infuriated Big Boi and many US fans.

The 2012 Remix of Running Up That Hill is available on itunes.

See the official announcement of the track and Kate’s comments on the official site about that and the closing ceremony, also reported by the NME.

The Guardian has run a story about Acts which were invited but did not appear at the closing ceremony including this: “Kate Bush was among those Gavin and Arnold hoped would appear, and there were rumours in the industry that she had agreed to perform. However, Bush too is reluctant to appear in public. Organisers agreed to play a remix of Running Up That Hill, and the singer released a statement on her website on Monday praising a “brilliant show”.”

This has been rereported second, third and fourth hand on various music news sites, each inevitably putting its own twist and spin on the story.

KateBush.com Kate’s official site, has announced that they have a last 200 copies of the Lake Tahoe picture disc:

“On 9th May 2012 at 18.30 GMT (UK Time) the discs will be exclusively available to purchase in our shop here

We only have a very small number of these discs so purchases will be limited to one per customer on a first come first serve basis.  We apologise in advance if anyone isn’t able to get a copy, but as this release is truly limited we’re lucky to be able to offer this many directly to fans.  Anyone who is found trying to abuse the shop system to purchase more than one copy will have their additional orders cancelled and run the risk of losing out entirely. 

The discs will remain on sale while stocks last.“

Update: Kate has now sent a message of good luck to Bo on her official site:

Dear Bo, Many congratulations on your fantastic performance last night on The Voice. I thought it was really beautiful and very moving. I feel so proud of you. Good luck for tonight and very best wishes to you and your mum. With love, Kate Bush  xx

From Michael Hogan’s Daily Telegraph live blog: “20.26 The final act tonight is Bo Bruce for Team Danny. The aristocratic girl with the quirky indie voice. Her mother is seriously ill at the moment, which was reported in the papers this morning and she admirably doesn’t mention but Danny does. Another great song choice – they’re ending strongly in that sense – with Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. 20.28 Slightly static staging and hard to compete with La Bush, but she’s got a lovely tone to her voice. 20.29 Nice acapella coda there and an emotional climax. “Art is the only justification for pain,” says Danny. Well-meaning but rather melodramatic. Will calls her an artist. Compliments come no higher on this show, it seems. Jessie’s proud and loves being part of the show. Tom comes over all avuncular, tells her to channel her current experience into her voice and let it all flow. Bless him.”

The Judges comments in full:

JESSIE J: I was ready to stand up before you finished your song. This is a great show to be a part of, what a wonderful ending! WILL.I.AM: This is a great show and you are all singing to represent your country. You Bo are an incredible artist and I know there is a Voice US and a Voice Australia, but singing like you did, the UK has something really special out of all The Voice’s TOM JONES: If there are things that are bothering you or on your mind you should try to use it as a strength and tonight you let it all flow and it was fantastic! DANNY O’DONOGHUE: It’s been very tough, the reason why I came on the show is to find someone like you. Someone who is willing to bare their soul to the whole world. I am proud, your mum is really proud and the whole of the UK is really proud too.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Y8rYDv1jU[/youtube]

Useless fact: Bo Bruce is daughter of the Earl of Cardigan and a descendant of the Lord Cardigan who led the charge of British cavalry known as “the charge of the Light Brigade” against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War.